by Lexy Timms
I’d told Drew to meet us there, knowing I’d have to pull him from the office. Even though he talked about opening his own tattoo shop, I knew he was going to enjoy the corporate life. I hated being in that office. I wanted to walk around the sites and see how things were running. I enjoyed going to the homeless shelters and employing new people to work on our projects. But Drew enjoyed his office. He enjoyed the corporate environment. He enjoyed the meetings where he got to be the boss and everyone dropped their schedules to listen to him.
He might be a tattooed surfer guy to most people, but to our company, he was the guy who kept the professional end of things running smoothly.
“So, Anna. What do you do for work?” Drew asked.
“I’m a lawyer at a corporate firm in Phoenix.”
“Arizona?” he asked.
“The one and only,” Anna said, grinning.
“Do you enjoy it?”
I felt Hailey tense up beside me when he asked that question. I looked down at her and watched the stormy gaze of a worried sister roll across her face. If there was one thing Hailey kept filling me in on while her sister was here, it was how worried she was about letting her fly back to Phoenix. She told me about their first night together, how it took an entire bottle of wine for Anna to admit what her parents were forcing her into. She talked about how much wine Anna was drinking while they were together, how it worried her that her sister was coping with alcohol at night to deal with her stress.
I pulled her closer to me, trying to comfort her while we listened in on their conversation.
“It has its moments, though I’d rather be singing on stages.”
“Ah, so you’re a singer. Care to serenade me with something?” Drew asked.
“Only if you enjoy opera,” Anna said, giggling.
“Opera? You sing opera?” Drew asked. “That takes some serious chops. I’m impressed.”
“I do. It was what I wanted to do with my life once upon a time.”
“What made you become a lawyer?” Drew asked.
“My parents,” was all Anna said.
I rubbed my hand up and down Hailey’s arm. I could feel her body heating up with her protective instincts. I wanted her to know that Anna was in good company. If anything, she was in the presence of three people who’d pursued their dreams no matter what others thought about them. The three of us had battled the family tensions, gone against the grain, and busted up stereotypes to get where we all were now. We could rub off on her and really show Anna that it could work.
But most of all, I wanted Hailey to be all right. I wanted her to give Anna and Drew the space to bloom whatever it was that was growing between them. Drew was a good man who had a solid head on his shoulders. He didn’t do long-term relationships much, but it didn’t seem to me like Anna was looking for something long-term. Any woman who was on his arm was treated with kindness and respect. He wouldn’t take advantage of her sister like most men would.
“Ah, seems we all sort of have that family tension in common,” Drew said, grinning.
“I could think of some other tension that’s more pleasant than familial ones,” Anna said.
I watched Hailey’s eyes widen as she threw her gaze up at me. I bit back my chuckle, trying my best not to intervene. Drew and Anna were complete opposites. Drew was sitting there in board shorts and a T-shirt while Anna was sitting there in a pencil skirt and her blouse tucked in. Drew was covered in tattoos and Anna’s skin was smooth as stone. Drew was a blue-collar worker who surfed in his spare time, and Anna was a white-collar worker who sang opera, of all things.
I couldn’t have physically drawn two more opposite people if I’d been inspired to try.
“Oh, really?” Drew asked. “And what sort of tensions would those be?”
I watched as Drew’s finger reached out for Anna’s pinky. I felt Hailey lurch, wanting to intervene before anything else happened. I dipped my lips down to her ear, catching her before she could ruin anything. Something told me Anna needed this. A man like Drew who could show her, if only for a few days, what it felt like to live a life on her terms.
“Drew’s a good guy. Let’s see how this plays out,” I said.
I gave her a light kiss on the shell of her ear, and I felt her automatically sink into me. The sun dipped quickly below the skyline, and nighttime soon blanketed the entire park. People around us were beginning to settle down for the impending fireworks with their lemonades and their funnel cakes. The band hired to play in the park all afternoon was winding down their last song while people took their places in their fold-out chairs. The talking started to die down, and the ocean breeze kicked up. Soon, our hair was being tossed and whipped around while the salted air bathed our skin.
I looked over and saw Anna tucked closely underneath Drew’s arm. His cheek was pressed into her forehead as they chatted with one another, and all I could do was smile. It was the first time I’d ever seen Drew look that peaceful with another woman, and I was happy for him. He was a go-getter who always had energy and always wanted to take them to do things. Dinner and a movie was never his go-to date. He wanted to take them to do something exciting. Teaching them how to surf. Convincing them to go parasailing. Hell, he even tried to convince one girl to go skydiving with him.
On the first damn date.
I’d never seen him this peaceful with a woman at his side, and it was a nice view to watch.
“You know those guys on the site? The ones working at the gallery?” Hailey asked.
“Yep. They’re called the construction crew, Hailey,” Anna said as she turned her gaze toward her sister.
“Shut up,” she said, giggling. “Only two of them are employed by Bryan’s company.”
“Oh, yeah. I saw that in the contract somewhere. You dip into the homeless community, right?” Anna asked.
“It’s not really a big deal,” I said.
“It is, though,” Hailey said. “He has a passion for it. He does it with all his jobs. You know sometimes, whenever he’s building homes and stuff, he’ll give one of the homes he builds to the homeless person working on the site for him.”
“Hailey, they don’t need to know all this,” I said.
“Wait, are you serious? Does your company absorb the cost or something?” Anna asked.
“I guess so. He’s a regular knight in tattooed armor,” Hailey said.
“Well, now I’m glad I fronted you all that money for the place,” Anna said. “I like supporting people with those kinds of morals. Business today is so cutthroat. It’s nice Hailey was able to find someone to help her whose ethics and morals line up with hers.”
“You loaned her some of the money?” Drew asked.
“I invested. For three percent of the company, so she wouldn’t have to pay taxes on the gifted amount,” Anna said.
“Smart and beautiful. A deadly combination,” Drew said, smirking.
“Do you help Bryan employ the homeless men on the projects?” Anna asked.
“Nope. That’s all Bryan’s passion. He goes into the shelters and gets to know them. Serves them food. Helps them out. It’s his thing, and his thing alone.”
“That’s incredible,” Anna said. “You should feel really good about that. I’m so glad my sister found someone who’s as honest and helpful as you are.”
“It’s really nothing. Look, the traffic is starting to die down. We should get going,” I said.
“Don’t take it personally,” Drew said. “He doesn’t like talking about the good he does for the community.”
“Why not?” Anna asked. “I’d be all over that shit if I was doing it.”
“He doesn’t do it for the glory,” Drew said. “Or the attention.”
“I’m all about attention, sorry,” Anna said, giggling.
“I could pay you some attention if you’d like,” Drew said.
“Wait, why don’t you talk about it?” Hailey asked.
I could see the confusion on her face. I pulled my hand from ar
ound her body and slipped my hand into hers. She was so warm and inviting, and I needed to have her in my arms tonight. I loved that she enjoyed the time with her sister, but I missed her.
I missed her more than I was willing to admit.
“Because it’s about doing good deeds. It’s not about publicity or wanting people to know I do it. I do it to help. Nothing else,” I said.
“But that could really be a boost to your company’s brand,” Anna said. “I’m a regularly-employed lawyer with many smaller companies in the Phoenix area, and even I know you could boost your business by aligning yourself with a cause. You wouldn’t even have to advertise that you, personally, do it. Just that you support the homeless community and want to do something about it.”
“It’s not about that, though,” I said.
“Then what is it about?” Hailey asked.
“It ...”
I sighed, and my eyes locked with Drew. I could tell he was wanting me to tell them. He wanted me to open up to Hailey and tell her a bit about myself. I was hesitant about that, though. I was hesitant about telling her the emotions I held close to my chest. I didn’t feel ready to talk about what happened to my brother and how it sparked this insatiable need to help the homeless community, get them on the right path, and get them clean.
To save them from the fate that befell my brother.
“My brother, John. I see him in all the homeless people I employ,” I said.
“Was he homeless or something?” Anna asked.
“For a time. He was a drug addict. He’d get clean, slip up. That sort of deal. I’m not sure about the last few months of his life, but I know he was homeless for those last few months.”
“What happened to him?” Anna asked.
I felt Hailey brace against me, but I wasn’t sure why. Her eyes were downcast in her lap, almost as if she was trying to hide from something, and I second-guessed what I was about to do. I didn’t want to lose her. I didn’t want to push her away with my damage. She was so put together and grounded, and I didn’t want my emotional baggage to be the reasons he left.
“He eventually overdosed while on the streets. Died in an alleyway one night while it was raining.”
“I’m so sorry, Bryan,” Anna said.
“I’m so sorry,” Hailey said, sniffling.
I cradled her close to me as she pressed her wet cheek into my chest. I stroked my fingers through her hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She was shaking against me, harder than I’d ever felt her shake, and I scooped her into my lap while Drew held Anna close to his body.
“It’s why I help out the homeless, even when they’re addicts. It’s personal to me, not professional. It’s not for the glory or the forwarding of the business. It’s how I cope with my brother’s death and the way he died. It’s how I cope with the tension it brought down on my family and with things I could’ve done differently to have saved his life,” I said.
“You’re a good man,” Anna said as Hailey embraced me. “A very good man.”
The fireworks began to burst overhead and the four of us watched them as they lit up the nighttime sky. The sound rattled my bones, and the colors bombarded my vision, and for just a moment, nothing else existed between the four of us. Anna was curled nicely into Drew, Hailey was pressed deep into my body, and everything simply seemed right. They boomed and crashed overhead, popping and thundering across the city while the ocean breeze filled our nostrils. I wondered what it would be like to have John here with whatever ebony-skinned woman he was fawning over during the last beer we ever shared with one another.
I wondered what he would think of Hailey. If he would like her and support her gallery. I wondered if he would work for the company, or maybe if he would have started one of his own. He always had that passion, that spirit to go out and make something of himself without any help.
I wondered what his favorite firework would be. Which one would make him smile the biggest?
After the fireworks were over, people started getting up to leave. Drew and I always waited until the crowd cleared out, so we didn’t have to battle the traffic. The girls were more than willing to sit there with us, curled underneath our arms while we simply sat with one another. But pretty soon, Anna spoke up, her voice filling the space we occupied with words that sounded like music to my ears.
“Hailey, would you be upset if I spent a bit more time with Drew here?” she asked.
“Ah, can’t get enough of me, can you?” Drew asked, smirking.
“That’s just fine,” Hailey said. “I’m sure Bryan and I can get ourselves into a bit of trouble for a while. Whaddaya say?”
I looked down at her with a broad smile on my face, and my lips met hers as I felt the back of my neck heat up with joy.
“I think we could find something,” I said.
Chapter 20
Hailey
“So, what are you two going to get into?” Anna asked as we headed for the cars.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. What are you and Drew going to get into?” I asked.
“Not sure. Drew here says he’s got a fun adventure he wants to take me on,” Anna said.
“My only requirement is that she’s safe,” I said.
“You’ve got my word,” Drew said.
“Good. Anna, you remember where the spare key is?” I asked.
“I do, I do,” she said.
“Don’t use my bed if you go back to the apartment. You’re buying me a new mattress if you ruin it,” I said.
Drew’s eyes widened so comically, it made me laugh, and Anna couldn’t help but play along with the banter.
“I’ll just leave the money for it underneath your pillow,” she said, winking.
“Oh, I like this woman,” Drew said.
“I figured you might,” I said.
The four of us parted ways, and I hopped into Bryan’s truck. We rode in relative silence, my ears still ringing from the blasting of the fireworks. Bryan’s hand felt so warm in mine. His fingers dwarfed my hand, curling over my skin as if he were holding a toddler’s. My thumb traced pointless outlines on top of his skin, and I grinned to myself when I saw the goosebumps ricochet up his skin. I had to admit, my body was heating up at the thought of simply being with him, but I was excited about going to his house.
It was the first time I was going to see it, and it meant I got to know more about him as a person.
When we pulled up into his driveway, my jaw hit the floor. His house was gigantic. Well, compared to my studio apartment, it was gigantic, but it wasn’t at all what I expected from Bryan. The geometric shapes that donned the support system of the house told me he’d designed it himself. The driveway rounded around right to the front door of his house, and he shut the truck off before he got out and opened my door.
And still, I was gawking at his home.
“Bryan, this is where you live?” I asked.
“Yep. Designed it myself if you couldn’t already tell.”
“I could,” I said, grinning. “It’s beautiful. How big is it?”
“Just shy of three thousand square feet. I didn’t want something too gaudy, but I wanted enough space to eventually expand into.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t plan on staying single forever,” he said.
I looked up at him, and I could see his eyes dancing with his future plans. This strong, chiseled man who’d designed his own house, built his own company, and probably had a hand in building all the projects his company took on, was daydreaming in his spare time of a family. I couldn’t help but watch as the joy of that prospect rolled across his face, and the moment he looked down at me, he smiled.
“Wanna see the inside?” he asked.
“Hell yeah, I do.”
He took my hand and walked me inside. We were dumped into an open foyer with beautiful darkened hardwood floors. A massive staircase led up to a second story, and all I could do was gawk. There was so much room. So much space. I wal
ked down the hallway and rounded around into the kitchen, filled to the brim with stainless steel appliances. Over to the right was a huge living room with a television mounted on the wall and a small hallway that cased the back of the house. It dumped into a guest bedroom, one that was probably used by Drew if he ever came to stay over.
“There’s a basement I think you might enjoy,” he said into my ear.
“Lead the way.”
There was a door in the main hallway that he opened. He flicked on a light that exposed a delicate staircase, and I followed him down it as he continued to click on lights. The basement ran the entire length of the house, easily one thousand square feet on its own as I took in the layout. There was a small living area with a television to my right, a sprawling bedroom area to my left, and behind me in a little caddy corner was a bathroom and shower combination.
He had an entire living space down here, minus a kitchen.
But it was the walls that caught my attention. The walls that were lined with various drawings. Sketches that had been framed and shaded geometric patterns that had been encased and preserved over the years. I saw a few paintings, some scenic pictures and some painted animals. I ran my eyes along each and every one of them, studying them as my smile grew wider. These were all paintings and drawing Bryan had done over the years. He’d painted and drawn every single one of them, and I was standing in awe of the work he was capable of.
The artistic expression that flowed through the utensils he used to create these portraits.
But there was one that caught my eye. One that I knew Bryan hadn’t done. The log cabin painting came into view at the very end of the line, where the wall stopped and took a turn to span the width of the room.
It was the tattoo he had on his lower back.
John’s high school cabin painting.
I was stunned. Rooted to my place. I was standing in front of the original painting. The painting that seemed to be a pervading theme throughout the course of our relationship. This painting seemed to hold a sort of innocence with Bryan, but to me, it seemed to be this thin connecting string that strung all of us together. This idea John had that he’d latched onto, of brotherly love and familial innocence, it had followed him throughout his entire lifetime.